Device for automatically lowering the trolley-pole of electrically-driven vehicles.



0. KiiDDERITZSGH. DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY LOWERING THBTROLLEY POLE 0F ELBGTRIGALLY DRIVEN VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 11, 1913.

1, 1 27,453. Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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H45 NORRIS PETERS ca, PHDTC-LITHOH WASHINGTON. 0. M

. c. KUDDERITZSGH. DEVICE IOB AUTOMATICALLY LOWBRING THE TROLLEY POLE 0F ELECTRIGALLY DRIVEN VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED OGT.11, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

NORRIS PETERS ca. PHOTO-LITHC WASHINGTON, D C.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

cunr Konnnnrrzscn, or nonrivruivn, GERMANY.

DEVICE FOR. AUTOMATICALLY LOWERIN G THE TROLLEY-POLE 0F ELECTRICALLY- DRIVEN VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

Application filed October 11, 1913. Serial No. 794,612.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CURT Kdnnnnirzson, a citizen of theGerman Empire, residing at Dortmund, Germany, have invented a new and useful Device for Automatically Lowering the Trolley-Poles of Electrically- Driven Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for automatically lowering the trolley pole of electrically driven vehicles, whenever it has jumped the overhead wire, so that the pole/is prevented from hitting the suspension members of said overhead wire.

According to the present invention the trolley pole is lowered by the action of a spring of suitable strength which, as long as the pole travels along the wire, is kept under tension by an arresting device, but is automatically released after the pole jumps the wire, whereupon it will rotate the drum for the cable attached to the pole in such a manner that the pole is hauled down. with my novel construction, the members for re leasing said spring under tension are so arranged relatively to the cable drum that they are axially displaced when the spring is released and the drum is rotated, while they are automatically re-set for the next operation by exercising a pull on the pole cable wound upon the drum.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is an axial section of a trolley pole-lowfiring device embodying my invention Figfl a perspective view of the spring barrel and adjoining parts, Fig. 2 a cross section on line E F, Fig. 1, the parts being shown in the position which they occupy immediately before the release of the spring barrel, Fig, 3 a similar section showing the parts in different position, Fig. 4; an axial section through a modification of my. trolley polelowering device, Fig. l a perspective view of the cable drum shown in Fig. 4;, Fig. 5 a cross section the upper half of which is taken on line AB, Fig. 4 while the lower half is taken on line CE-D, Fig. l, Figs, 6 and 7 are similar sections showing the parts in different positions,,Fig. 8 is a sectional side view of the safety device for" locking the apparatus while the same is carried from one car end to the other e'nd, and Fi ,9, a left face view thereof. l

forced down by the overhead wire, the

spring 9 will thus turn the drum 6 in a direction opposite tothat of a clock hand, when seen from the left (Fig. 1), so that the drum is moved toward the right owing to its engagement with the thread of shaft or. lVhen the cable unwinds, for instance in case the trolley wheel jumps the wire, it will turn the drum in the opposite direction thereby moving the drum toward disk 0. On the opposed faces of drum Z) and disk 0 are provided lugs (Z and 6 respectively. The height of these lugs and the pitch of the thread should be so selected that in the position shown in Fig. 1, the lugs are free to pass in front of each other, while they will abut against each other, after drum (J has performed one complete rotation caused by a pull on the pole cable. Disk 0 is rotated by a strong trolley pole hauling spring 7, when the latter has been released, in the same direction as the drum Z) is turned by the weaker spring 9, thus in Figs. 2 and 3 contrary to the movement of a clockhand.

By means of a pawl or detent h pivoted to the casing 7; of the device and engaging a groove or recess 6 of disk 0, the latter isprevented from rotating, until this pawl 71, has been lifted by the drum 6. This lifting of pawl h is effected by means of a tapPet 7c fulcrumed to drum 6 and adapted to engage a stud z of the pawl slightly before lug d abuts against lug e. Casing i is further provided with a fixed pin 2 adapted to be engaged by the pawl 72, thereby preventing the latter. from being swung inward to a greater extent than corresponds to the inward movement of said pawl when engaging the most depressed portion of spiral groove 2?. After the pawl 72. has thus been released by tappet 7c, the comparatively strong spring 7 is free to rotate disk 0 in a direction oppo site to that of a clock hand when seen from the, left (Fig. 1). As soon as during this rotation of disk 0, its lug e abuts against the lug cl of drum Z), the latter will participate in the rotation of disk 0, while at the same time, the disk and .drum travel toward the right (Fig. 1), owing to the thread provided on shaft a, which thread is engaged by the disk and drum as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. In this way the cable is wound upon drum Z), thus hauling down the trolley pole. For preventing the pawl 72, from reengaging recess t after the first revolution of the disk 0 has been performed, the width of recess t should be slightly less than the pitch of the thread, so that after one revolution of the disk, the pawl it can no longer enter said recess.

For allowing the springs f and g to participate in the movement of the parts I), 0 toward the right during the operation described, they are secured to sleeves m and n, respectively, which are prevented by a key 0 from revolving, said key sliding in a groove 79 in the shaft.

Then the disk 0 is to be returned with its spring under tension to its initial position, it is sufficient to pull out the cable. The lug 07 will then drive luge and disk 0 and drum 2) will revolve clockwise. In this way the drum 7) and the disk 0 will again travel to the left, Fig. 1, until the pawl h 'rengages recess t.

- As above described, pawl 71, rests on pin w whenever disk 0 has been moved toward the right (Fig. 1) and away from said pawl for the purpose of, hauling down the cable. In order to prevent the subsequently returning disk 0 from abuttinglaterally against the pawl, wh ereby its further return movement would" be checked, the flange of disk '0 is rounded off or made coniform as clearly illustrated in Fig. '1. The pawl 72. will thus climb theconical flange until it finally drops into recess 6. During this movement the lugs at and c bear against each other and the tappet it is located back of the releasing lug e of the pawl h. WVhen the cable is released the spring 9 will revolve the drum with lug d and tappet 7c in a direction opposite to that of a clock hand until theparts occupy the position shown in Fig. 1. During this. movement of the drum, pawl hre tains its locking position as tappet 7c is able to yield toward the right (Fig. 3) to be subsequently righted by a comparatively weak s ring q.

With the modification shown in Figs. 4-7, shaft (2 is journaled in the rear wall 10 of the casing, which is adapted to be secured to the car. To this shaft there is secured one end of a powerful return spring 0 the other end. of which is attached to the back wall w, this spring tending to turn the shaft in such a direction as to wind up the cable. To the shaft a is also rigidly coupled a disk (Z provided with a" notch d which is adapted .to be engaged by the retaining pawl e in ,such a manner, that the shaft a is prevented from being turned by spring'c the pawl 6 being carried by a spring 6 riveted or otherwisesecured to casing 9 On the shaft 0; is further rotatably fitted the cable drum f To this drum is secured one end of a spring 9 the other end of which is secured to shaft a and tends to turn the drum in the same direction, as spring 0 the spring 9 however being weaker than spring 0 and serving only to keep the cable taut, whereas the spring 0 is under so high a tension, that it is able to haul down the trolley pole. Between the disk cZ and the drum i a releasing disk h is fitted. This disk is connected on the one hand to shaft a by means of its screw thread and on the other hand to drum 7 by inwardly extending projections 2' of said drum, which engage corresponding recesses 76 of disk 7L In this way, a rotation of drum f owing to an unwinding of the cable, will cause disk 71.? to participate in this rotation, while the engagement of the disk with the thread of shaft (4 causes said disk to move toward disk (Z To disk k is pivoted a catch or tappet Z, which is forced, by means of a spring m against an abutment n When disk h has sufficiently approached disk (Z owing to the trolley jumping the wire and to the resulting unwinding of the cable, the catch Z engages (from left to right, Fig. 5) under the shoulder 0 of the pawl e and lifts the latter until it clears notch (P. On the disks h d are respectively provided the lugs 32 and 79 In consequence of the pawl being lifted, spring 0 is released and shaft a is' revolved, which'movement is transmitted to drum 7 through lugs p 79 thus winding the cable on said drum. In order to prevent a reengagement of pawl 6 with notch 03 after disk (Z has performed one complete revolution, a second catch Z isprovided on disk 03 which is forced by spring m against an abutment 71?. By means of the catch Z the pawl e is lifted at the completion of each revolution of disk (Z thereby preventing an engagement of pawle and notch (Z Fig. 6 shows the'position of the parts after disk al has completed one revolution. The device is set for the next use by simply pulling out the cable. At each full revolution of drum f the pawl will engage the notch d of disk 1 as the catch Z is able to yield and thereby no longer lifts the pawl. After a sufli'cient number of revolutions, z. 6. when. the disk A abuts against the disk (Z the cable is released, and the disk k recedes in consequence of the drum being turned backward under the action of spring 9 the catch Z falling over and passing underneath the lug 0 of the pawl. The device is thus again ready for use.

The whole arrangement is inclosed within a casing g which has a slot through which the cable passes, and in which the shaft a is journaled.

As evident from thedrawings the distance between the lugs 79 and 79 and between the catches Z and Z and the length of the lug 0 should be so selected, that the catch Z may be righted while the catch Z remains tilted.

The safety device shown in Figs. 8 and 9 consists of the following parts: The wall w is provided with a socketed lug 9", which is adapted to receive a pin s influenced by a spring t that tends to move said pin toward the cable drum. The flange of the latter is provided with notches adapted to be engaged by the pin, thereby preventing a further rotation of the drum, when the entire device is carried from one platform of the car to the other platform at a reversing point of the line. For subsequently releasing the look after the device has again been fitted to the car, the pin 8 passes outward through the wall a and is there coupled with a lever to which participates in the movement of said vpin. Lever a is provided with a tail a that abuts against the member 7) of the bayonet joint employed for holding the entire device to the car. During the insertion of member a into member a, lover a is tilted thereby withdrawing pin 8 from the drum-notches, and thus releasing the drum.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described, comprising a threaded shaft, a cable drum permanently engaging the thread thereof, a disk carried by the shaft and also permanently engaging the thread thereof, a first relatively weak spring influencing the drum, a second relatively strong spring influencing the disk, means for locking the disk against rotation, means having a constrained movement and actuated upon a rotation of the drum in one direction for releasing said disk-locking means, and means actuated upon a release of said disk-locking means for transmitting motion from the disk to the drum in the opposite direction, said last named means being also constituted to rewind the second spring upon a rotation of the drum in the first named direction.

2. A device of the character described comprising a casing, a shaft journaled therein and having a threaded portion, a cable drum permanently engaging said threaded shaft-portion and having a lug, a recessed disk also permanently engaging said threaded shaft-portion and having a lug that is adapted to engage the drum-lug, a first relatively weak spring engaging the drum, a second relatively strong spring engaging the disk, a pawl pivoted to the casing and adapted to engage the disk-recess, and means actuated upon a rotation of the drum in one direction for disengaging the pawl from the disk-recess, thereby releasing the disk and causing a subsequent engagement of the disk-lug with the drum-lug for rotating the drum in the opposite direction.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a casing, a shaft journaled therein and having a threaded portion, a cable drum permanently engaging said threaded shaft portion, a first relatively weak spring interposed between said shaft and drum, a locking disk also permanently engaging the threaded shaft portion, a second relatively strong spring interposed between the shaft and disk, means pivoted to the casing for locking the disk, means actuated upon a rotation of the drum in one direction for releasing said disk-locking means, and means actuated upon a release of said disk-locking means for transmitting motion from the disk to the drum in the opposite direction, said last named means being also constituted to rewind the second spring upon a rotation of the drum in the first named direction.

a. A device of the character described comprising a casing, a shaft journaled there in and having a threaded portion, a spring influenced cable drum engaging said threaded shaft portion, a tappet pivoted to the drum, a spring-influenced recessed disk also mounted on the threaded shaft-portion, a pawl pivoted to the casing and adapted to engage the disk-recess, a stud on the pawl that is adapted to be engaged by the tappet, and cooperable motion transmitting lugs on said drum and disk.

OURT KoDDEnITZsoH.

Witnesses I HELEN NUFER, ALBERT Norma.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patent Washington, D. G. 

